Mechanoid Combat Unit
The Mechanoid Combat Unit, or MCU, was a Robotics project orchestrated by for use by the . The aim of the MCU project was to create Humanoid Robots either for combat infantry or peace keeping forces. The idea of utilizing Robots in place of humans was explored at the height of the , when militias and police forces were under tremendous scrutiny by the UNSC. The MCU's, while somewhat viable, were eventually bogged down by cost and didn't have a significant edge over Human intelligence and combat prowess. The , also working on , came to the conclusion that the MCU's were too expensive and limited when compared to standard Human soldiers. It is assumed a majority of the 20 ordered units were either destroyed, put in storage, or sold to private parties. The legacy of the MCU's, however, would live on in CDS Mjolnir armor variants such as the helmet, which was somewhat inspired by the MCU's cranial chassis. Specifications Design Overview The MCU was designed as a Humanoid as to easily traverse man-made structures, interact with man-made objects, and use man-made devices and tools. This allowed for any hand held weapon system to be deployed with the MCU's, be it anything from less-than-lethal stun guns, down to military grade rocket launchers and rifles. This would be important when interacting with Insurrectionists and their equipment. The choice to appear humanoid was also an aesthetic choice, seeing that the MCU's would either interact with or work with Human handlers constantly—designers hoped this would make them feel less intimidating. Armor Intelligence Though the prototype MCU had been designed with a processing core able to maintain any form of AI inserted by , this would not be the final design. Due to a large amount of internal debate, engineers opted for a more "subservient" intelligence with longer life spans and, thus, a less powerful processing core. The "intelligence" chosen for the MCU's would be capable of simple interactions and conversation, but they were quite limited beyond combat, security, and peace keeping and were considered to be on a lower tier of . The standard intelligence was deemed to be more akin to a "personal computing device", and lacked the ability to think freely. Rather, MCU's would work within certain pre-ordained parameters, limiting the outcome of their effectiveness. Power Source The MCU's were powered both by battery and wireless power receiver. Due to the nature of the wireless power generator, the MCU's would have a limited range, though, their batteries allowed for them to travel beyond generator range for a short time. While in range of the generator, the MCU's would be able to recharge allowing for very minimal amount of downtime. MCU's also carried power transmitters and could gain battery power from other units nearby. Operational History ONI's approached Chalybs Defense Solutions with a weapons engineering proposal in 2513, and ultimately CDS would bid for the project and win. In 2514, the design process began and CDS had a working MCU prototype by the end of 2515. Concurrently, CDS engineers began debating the level of intelligence that would be ethically sound for the MCU's. Some wanted ONI to supply to get the best results from the MCU chassis; some thought they could utilize more widely available , allowing to keep costs lower and still have thinking robot soldiers. The inevitable resounding opinion of most CDS engineers, whom ONI agreed with, was to not risk human lives by allowing free thinking AI to be given the choice to kill other human beings. This may have, ultimately, hindered the potential of the MCU's, but engineers opted for an ethically "safer" route. In 2519, the 20 MCU's, which had been ordered, were completed and shown off to ranking ONI Materials Group officers. After a short display, the officers arranged for fireteams and MCU fireteams to run combat training exercises. Though capable of physical feats equaling the combined strength and agility of multiple humans, the MCU's could only just match Marine fireteams in combat. This was very underwhelming and—considering their investment—muted ONI's opinion of the project. In 2520, the MCU project was ended, having never been deployed by the UNSC. Gallery MCU.png|A full body shot of an MCU holding an XBR-55 in 2519 Category:Equipment of the UNSCDF Category:Equipment Category:UNSC Projects Category:ONI